Yesterday, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani expressed approval of the decision by New York School Chancellor Ramon Cortines to deny anti-Semitic students from Norman Thomas High School the right to attend graduation ceremonies. He also voiced approval of the same penalties that were given to anti-black students at Connecticut’s Greenwich High School. By contrast, the best he can do is to label as “inappropriate” the anti-Catholic bigotry that took place during last year’s illegal Gay Pride Parade, a parade that allowed for public nudity and deliberate provocation of Catholics.
Commenting on the Mayor’s selective indignation is Catholic League president William A. Donohue:
“The Mayor of the City of New York apparently feels that all expressions of bigotry are not equally reprehensible. Either that, or he feels that it matters who the offenders are. How else does one explain his duplicity in condemning anti-Semitism and anti-black incidents while speaking ever so gently about the anti-Catholicism that regularly attends the Gay Pride Parade?
“Mayor Giuliani wants the authorities to throw the book at those who target Jews and blacks but can’t find it within himself to throw the book at those who target Catholics. He is more worried about scribbling high school bigots than he is about adult bigots who masturbate in the street in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“On Sundays, many families attend Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and many come from out of town to do so. If they are targeted for abuse by anti-Catholic gays this Sunday, the only acceptable response from Mayor Giuliani will be to order the police to enforce the law to the fullest extent possible and for him to personally exit the parade upon word of Catholic-bashing incidents.
“If writing anti-Semitic notes merits arrest for aggravated harassment, then surely the kinds of obscenities and provocations that Catholics endured last year during the Gay Pride Parade would qualify for much more than aggravated harassment. If Catholic-bashing takes place again this Sunday outside St. Patrick’s, Mayor Giuliani will have no choice but to demand punitive sanctions against the offenders. Either that or he can risk his political future on it.”
